BOSTON — With the Pistons down three points and 6.3 seconds left in the game, they needed to go the full length of the court and get a clean 3-point look. Instead, as they did on the previous possession, the Celtics elected to foul the Pistons intentionally.
So, Jordan Walsh fouled Cade Cunningham as the Pistons guard brought the ball up the court. Initially, the officials ruled that it was just a foul on the floor, leading to two free throws. But they changed it to a shooting foul as Cunningham looked like he was trying to hoist up the 3 while getting fouled. So, Cunningham got three free throws after the officials conversed.
The call didn’t end up mattering as Cunningham missed the third and final free throw, which would’ve tied the game. The Celtics beat the Pistons 117-114 on Wednesday at TD Garden. Crew chief Tony Brothers explained why the controversial foul call was changed in a pool report after the game.
“The call on the floor was a two-shot foul,” Brothers said. “We conferenced and had definite knowledge that he (Cade Cunningham) was in his upward shooting motion at the time the foul occurred. That’s why it was changed to a three-shot foul versus a two-shot foul."
Brothers also said the change was made because Cunningham was in his shooting motion. He added they conferenced as a group, all three of them, to determine the call. So it didn’t necessarily come from one official.
The officials did go to the replay review after the call, though that wasn’t because they were reviewing the foul. It was actually because there was a clock malfunction. They put 4.4 seconds on the clock afterwards, which was more than the 3.8 seconds left after the initial call.
Regardless, the Celtics still got their most impressive win of the season. The Pistons came into Wednesday’s game riding a 13-game win streak. But the C’s got a Derrick White takeover in the second half, along with shooting 46.5% on their 3-pointers. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla also talked about the call after the game.
“At that point, I just didn’t want to cost my team any more time,” Mazzulla said. “I think the players deserve to win there, and it was my responsibility to stay as present as I can to what was going to happen next. If it was a different situation, I may not have responded that way. But I think the players deserved to win, so it’s my job to give them the best chance at that, and the best chance was to not respond. And it’s also a 50-50 call. I don’t know that it was one way or another.”